After years of being on stage, Dartmouth’s Olivia Levasseur and Kyle Lamontagne are taking the director’s chair.

The Dartmouth High students are co-directing the South Coast Children’s Theatre’s production of “Arsenic and Old Lace,” a dark comedy about a pair of murderous women.

“It’s a good dark comedy, we wanted something funny for the kids to have fun with,” Lamontagne said. “Comedy shows are great for kids.”

The experience of shifting roles to directing has been eye-opening for the pair. They’ve been involved in the theater program for years, but aged out of it when they entered high school. Now back to direct, they’ve gained a new understanding of the intricacies of the role.

“I like being able to do the show how I want to do it,” Levasseur said. “I love being on stage and acting and performing but its so so different being in the director’s point of view. You get to make all the choices.”

It has also given them an insight into how their Dartmouth High directing staff works.

“We get to see things from our director’s point of view,” Lamontagne said.

Teagan Witzig and Jade Beauregard play the two women, who plot the demise of men via poisoning. Their characters, Abby and Martha Brewster, compliment each other with brains versus beauty, and, of course, insanity – which they do not realize until it’s too late.

“It’s a lot of fun,” Beauregard said of her character’s mental qualities. “We get to be like ‘yeah, we poison these people, it’s no big deal.’”

Chloe Acevedo plays Elaine Harper, who is largely unaware of the true insanity of the Brewsters. Acevedo’s favorite part of the character is the slow realization that she’s surrounded by murderers, and the outgoing personality of the character.

“Despite the time period she’s really outgoing and knows what she wants,” Acevedo said. “She gets it.”

The show runs on November 16, 7 p.m. and November 17, 1 p.m. Shows are at St. Mary's Parish Hall, 783 Dartmouth St. Tickets are $15 for adults, and $12 for students and seniors.